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Center for Teaching Innovation

Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom Online Course

About the Course

Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom is a four-week, self-paced online course for anyone with teaching responsibilities at Cornell, at any level of diversity expertise. Modules explore social identity and self-reflection, strategies for inclusive course design, and pedagogical practices that effectively support student engagement and a sense of belonging across difference.

Key Details

  • Designed for anyone teaching at Cornell, across all disciplines
  • Open to all experience levels—no expertise in diversity necessary
  • 10 to 15-hour total time commitment anticipated
  • Enrollment is now open! 

Course Content

You will have opportunities to reflect on your own formative experiences and perspectives and to consider a range of new strategies to sustain more inclusive learning environments. The course experience includes text, reflection prompts, videos, readings, short assignments, and formative quizzes.

The content is organized into 5 modules:

ModuleThemeTopics
1.Teacher self-reflection
  • Social identity development
  • Identity salience for instructors
  • Your approach to teaching and learning
2.Student identities
  • Implicit bias and stereotype threat
  • Disability inclusion
  • Identity salience and affirmation in the learning environment
3.Developing inclusive pedagogy
  • Evidence-driven pedagogical approaches
  • Strategies for engagement and inclusion
  • Modeling inclusivity in unexpected moments
4.Examining curriculum
  • Inclusion in your discipline
  • Inclusive curriculum and course design
  • Discipline-specific approaches
5.Institutional change
  • Joining institutional change efforts
  • Action planning for application

Learning Outcomes

If you complete the course, you will be able to:

  • Use a framework for inclusive course design to evaluate and plan for inclusive teaching
  • Describe the salience of social identities in teaching and learning.
  • Identify evidence-based pedagogical strategies proven to support student-centered learning
  • Evaluate your curriculum and discipline to identify patterns of exclusion and inclusion and discipline-specific approaches to thinking about diversity, equity, and inclusion

Dates & Registration

The course, open to all Cornell faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars, was updated in fall 2024 and is now a self-enroll, self-paced opportunity in Canvas. Enrollment for Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom is now open. 

You are welcome to take the course solo, or we also encourage you to take it with a friend or group of colleagues. If you would like to create a learning community for your colleagues, please email Melina Ivanchikova (tldc_cti@cornell.edu).

If you are a member of the Weill Cornell community and would like to take the course, you will need to request a Canvas account. You can do so by logging in to our Canvas request page. 

  1. Use your Weill CWID login option to access this form.
  2. Click "Create a Canvas@Cornell user account"
  3. Confirm the information is correct and click "Submit"

Your account will be created in Canvas within minutes, and then you will be able to log in using the Weill CWID option on the Canvas login page.

If you are not a member of the Cornell community, consider taking our self-paced Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom MOOC. You may enroll in the MOOC at any time, and the course will be open to you for 5 weeks from your registration date (or for an open-ended period if you choose the fee-based certificate option).